DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS PERFORMANCE PORTFOLIO ...

And Carse continues ".
.. even if we could recapture the sounds of those
distant days it is unlikely that we should be altogether pleased with them. "
Professor David King also wrote: 8
As performers we are left to decide how best to honour the 'style' of the work
by attempting to create what we 'think' it might have been; or if in doubt we
can nonetheless honour the 'spirit'of the work as reflected in our personal
idioms.
Modem performers must be willing to supplement the principals found
in treatises with their own good musical tastes and common sense, and as P. F.
Tosi advises in his book 'Opinioni'written in 1723, "... always seekfor what
is easy and natural. "8
THE RECORDING SESSIONS
'Me production team for the recording came from B&H sound based
in
Peterborough. Daniel Lock was the producer and James Lawrence the engineer. Using
a venue such as St. James's Palace does present a unique set of problems both in
performance and general administration.
A detailed recording schedule needed to be put in place to help the brass
players as they were playing on natural instruments. It seemed logical to place the
running order into key groupings, which would limit the amount of changes
required
for crooks and slides. This method also helped with pitch; if a piece were in Eb major,
then obviously the pitch on the natural brass instruments were in that key. Changing
to a piece in Bb major would be that trumpet and horns need to think in Bb major as
all the parts were written in C leaving the slides and crooks to change the pitch [see
appendix IVA],
The State Apartments at St. James's Palace proved to have a natural resonance
about them that helped in performance. Having said that the production team did
8 David King, "personal communication" CIFhe Wagnerian turn'Ol Mar 05).
7